ENG. CHAMPIONSHIP BETTING PREVIEW - WATFORD VS BIRMINGHAM CITY

Eng. Championship

2026-01-01 - Watford vs Birmingham City

A Sports Betting Preview by ArmchairPunter

Watford v Birmingham City
Football : England: Championship
Venue: Vicarage Road
Thursday 1st January 2026, 1500hrs (GMT)

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Watford extended their unbeaten run in the Championship to an impressive six games under Spanish manager Javi Gracia who is in his second stint with The Hornets and Watford will be looking for another three points when they entertain a poor-travelling Birmingham City outfit at Vicarage Road on New Years Day.

Four wins along with two draws have helped thrust Watford up into the play-off pack where they occupy 6th place in the table and includes previous wins gained at the expense of Norwich City (home and away), Stoke City and Leicester City.

Watford also possess a commanding home record which stands at 7-4-1 20/12 but The Hornets have found it difficult to keep clean sheets on home soil, conceding in nine of their 12 home games so far in this season’s campaign.

Birmingham City were involved in another frustrating stalemate in the Championship on Monday night as The Blues were held to a 1-1 draw by Southampton which in turn made it six games without a win in the domestic second tier for Chris Davies’ side.

Three draws and three losses make the breakdown of recent results for the west midlands club with all three defeats being handed out to Birmingham on their travels with defeats at Southampton, QPR and Sheffield United respectively.

Interestingly, Birmingham City’s last win in the Championship came in the form of a 2-1 home win against upcoming opponents Watford but a poor away record of 2-2-8 8/20 suggests its best to steer away from the straight win market but instead delve into the goals market.

The Betting Verdict

With Watford in form and Birmingham City capable of at least scoring on the road, both teams to score looks a solid option here.

The Pick :

Watford 2-1 Birmingham City

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take BTTS - YES at odds of 1.73 with Bet365